** Update – As of 11/3/12, the simulator will now validate all entered position information, in an effort to avoid invalid or corrupted sample games / win percentages.

Well, it’s taken a bit longer to post an update than I had originally planned, but I guess that’s what happens when the storm of the century turns everything upside down for a week!

Head on over to http://pandora.dyndns.biz/monopoly/simulator.html to check out some of the radical and exciting changes made. My personal favorite is the added functionality for getting a sample game and literally watching it play out in “Auto Action” mode.

A brand new tutorial / sample usage video can be found here:

As always, please hit me up with any bugs, limitations, or shortcomings that you would like to see fixed. Here are some of the next steps I’m planning on taking:

1. I will be making the entire position setup reversible, which is certainly a lot less frustrating than having to start from scratch after a mouse slip.
2. I’ll be implementing a server-side method of storing previously-tried positions, which will help go back-and-forth when analyzing slightly different starting positions.
3. I will continue to perfect the timing of actions taken on the board, as well as expanding the simulator’s building strategy to handle multiple monopolies.

Without further ado, enjoy!! Keep an eye out for a new video tutorial / trailer.

8 Responses to Monopoly Simulator Updated!

Excellent question! I believe that the speed die certainly has a significant impact on the speed of the game, and it would probably affect the overall numbers particularly so when two monopolies are involved.

I have used the simulator a lot recently and have found it very useful/interesting, however I notice that the simulator doesn’t play by the building rules (continued from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoML_-Ah_L4). You can build even when it’s not your turn, even if another player roles doubles (see https://monopolynerd.wordpress.com/2010/06/09/fastest-theoretical-game/#comment-34 as and example). The simulator also often over builds when it doesn’t need to (for example if your opponent only has 1000 in cash and sellable houses and mortgageable property, you don’t need to put more than 3 houses on Boardwalk/Mayfair even if you safely can. I have seen many games loosing won games from overbuilding like this.

The simulator actually DOES allow for building after an opponent rolls doubles. There are two building strategies implemented: hyper aggressive and smart aggressive. Neither is an optimal strategy, but the smart aggressive is certainly reasonable. The hyper aggressive strategy, on the other hand, will build at all costs.

As for the official rules, there is actually some confusion regarding building in between an opponent’s doubles. I have always held that it is allowed, but supposedly it has NOT been allowed at the Monopoly World Championship for years now.